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Causes of the French Revolution aprox. 1700-1789

llevin2027 — 2024-09-23 18:37:17 UTC

On June 11 1775, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were crowned king and queen of France. This would prove to be a horrible thing for France as their young age and bad leadership skills would be one of the main causes of the French revolution. For example, they spent absurd amounts of money on parties, jewelry, and foreign wars. One of the wars they helped fund was the American Revolution, depleting the government funds and forcing them to start deficit spending. Another of the six causes was the famine that took over France in the early 1700's, there were about six million more mouths to feed and food prices skyrocketed. Because of the social structure, the queen for example, was not subject to the famine, further enraging the laborers and peasants who pay 100% of the countries taxes and receive nothing in return. That combined with all the ideas of the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, and pamphlets made by John Locke or Jean Jacques Rousseau heavily fueled the commoners ideas and later caused the French Revolution.

History notes

The Meeting of the Estates General May 4-5, 1789

llevin2027 — 2024-09-25 18:35:50 UTC

On May 4, 1789 there was a meeting held in Versailles called The Meeting of the Estates General. 1,200 people gathered from all over France with representatives from all three estates. The third estate of commoners and laborers had the most representatives of 600 people, while the other two estates each had 300 people. The third estate wore plain black clothing to signify their poorness, while the first and second estate wore colorful and luxurious clothing. The purpose of this meeting was to address the financial problems in France and potentially vote on new tax laws. The third estate argues for a vote per person while the others argue to vote by order which would guarantee them the winning vote.

https://www.worldhistory.org/Estates-General_of_1789/

The Tennis Court Oath June 20, 1789

llevin2027 — 2024-09-26 05:28:23 UTC

The third estate did not feel that they were being taken into account during the meeting of the Estates General so they left and created the National Assembly. Eventually many of the members from the first and second estates also joined. The National Assembly found themselves locked out of their usual meeting place so they relocated to the nearby royal tennis court. Once at the court they all took an oath never to disband until there was a written constitution that had been made for France. They came to the tennis court on June 20 and left on June 22. The king finally relented on June 27 and demanded that the other two estates join the National Assembly.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Tennis-Court-Oath

Storming of Bastille July 14, 1789

llevin2027 — 2024-09-26 19:18:35 UTC

King Louis XVI stationed police in the city of Paris, France and therefore the newly formed National Assembly was afraid that King Louis XVI would stage a coup. Their solution to the impending coup was to storm Bastille. Bastille was a state prison used since 1659, and at this time only seven prisoners were held. There were 84 guards to guard the prison, and when the main guard heard of the riots happening he requested backup but only received 32 additional guards. He also ordered 250 barrels of gun powder which were later taken by the rioters. The drawbridges were drawn up and the men got ready to fight, but two of the rebels scaled the fence and cut the chain holding up the bridges, which let everyone in. The rioters thought that the man who was in charge of Bastille was the one who let them in so when the guards started shooting they became enraged and caused a lot more havoc. In the end there were many people killed and all prisoners were freed. In France, this date is still celebrated today.

https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution

The establishment of the French Republic and the Declaration of the Rights of Man August 26, 1789

llevin2027 — 2024-09-26 21:33:22 UTC

After Bastille day along with many other things the National Assembly abolished feudalism and created complete equality between men. In an attempt to maintain equality the National Assembly wrote a document called the Declaration of the Rights of Man. In this document it is written that any punishment needs to be absolutely necessary, no one should be shut down because of their religious belief, as well as that everyone has the right to free communication etc. Unfortunately, many people did not agree with this new way of living including the conservative members of the French monarchy. King Louis XVI along with the nobility thought that this was too radical and at first they refused to sign it. They felt threatened by the idea of equality and individual rights.

https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution/The-new-regime

Trial of the King and Queen Approx. August 1792

llevin2027 — 2024-10-01 04:36:27 UTC

Although he claimed to accept the revolution, King Louis XVI allowed the Queen to reach out to her nephew in Austria for help to regain control over the country. As the revolution was getting bigger and bigger King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette realized that they needed to get out of France. In their attempt to flee to Austria they were arrested for treasonous acts. From there they were taken back to Paris and forced to sign the constitution, making them mere figureheads. During the next January King Louis XVI was charged with treason and sentenced to death by guillotine. 9 months later Marie Antoinette followed her husband to her death.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/king-louis-xvi-executed

Reign of Terror September 5, 1793 - July 27, 1794

llevin2027 — 2024-10-01 05:21:55 UTC

The purpose of the Jacobins was to protect the gains of the revolution against a possible aristocratic reaction. The Jacobins were a very powerful society and killed anyone who they thought did not agree with the revolution. In total there were 17,000 deaths by guillotine or firing squad in the hopes of them protecting the revolution. Rebellion against the revolution was such a bad thing that even if someone said one wrong thing they could be killed, all of the people in France were gripped with so much fear. During this time, the leader of the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre, ruled with violence and harsh punishments hence the name "Reign of Terror". Although there were many deaths the Reign of Terror only lasted one very long year.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Reign-of-Terror

The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte September 20, 1792 - October 26, 1795

llevin2027 — 2024-10-01 05:41:31 UTC

The reign of terror was finally brought to an end when the unpopular head of public safety publicly arrested and executed Maximilien Robespierre, and many of his supporters. Once the national convention met again they established the first French Republic. This lasted 4 years. Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed as the new director of government. This marked the beginning of the "Napoleonic Era" in French History. This was finally the end of the French Revolution.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Directory-French-history